>> barack obama calls for compromise as the u.s. approaches the brink of another economic crisis. in a rare appearance on a u.s. talk show he appealed to congress to make a deal to avoid tipping the country into recession. you're watching al-jazeera live from london. also coming up, 21 policemen

are buried in pakistan after being kidnap and shot by the taliban. anger and grief in india. candlelit vigils continue as the 22-year-old gang rape victim is cremated. plus moments of impact -- amateur video captures a russian plane after it overshoots a runway and crashes into a motorway. hello, president obama has made another appeal to the u.s. congress to reach an agreement in the next 48 hours to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. it's a term used to describe the expiry of tax cuts dating back to 2001. if there is no deal, 88% of

americans will end up paying $400 billion more in 2014. that will be coupled with more than a trillion dollars in automatic government spending cuts. according to the congressional budget office it will start with $200 billion in military and social welfare cuts next year. the big concern over falling off the fiscal cliff is it will send the u.s. back into a recession with, of course, global repercussions. it could be weeks before anyone feels the effects. and analysts say even without an agreement, politicians can reach other deals to soften the impact. >> u.s. president barack obama making a rare appearance on one of u.s. tv's agenda-setting sunday shows. he appealed to politicians of both parties not to let the u.s. go off the so-called fiscal cliff. the budget crisis, some kay --

say could tip the u.s. into recession dragging the rest of the world with it. >> over the next 48 hours, regardless of partisan differences our top priority has to be that taxes on middle class families do not go up. that would hurt our economy badly. we can get that done. democrats and republicans both say they don't want taxes to go up on middle class families. that's something we all agree on. if we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the fiscal cliff. it avoids the worst outcomes. >> in the upper house, the senate, sunday the leadership of both parties is putting together a watered-down deal to assure that taxed on americans making less than $200,000 per year don't go up. the president expressed both sides will have to accept

compromise. >> there is a basic fairness at stake in this whole thing that the american people understand and they listened to an entire year's debate about it. they made a clear decision about the approach they prefer, which say balanced, responsible package. they rejected the notion that the economy grows best from the top down. they believe the economy grows best from the middle class out and at a certain point, you know, it is very important for republicans in congress to be willing to say we understand we're not going to get 100%, we are willing to compromise. >> if a deal can get through the democratically controlled senate it will put pressure on the republican-cro -- controlled house to vote it through as well. >> i do understand the politics. the president won. he ran on raising rates and he's going to get a rate increase. >> the hope is that the bill can be presented to the house by late sunday or monday. >> what's the latest word that

you are hearing, john, from inside the u.s. senate? those top-level negotiations taking place right now? >> well, the news is not good, fegicity. we are told that mitch mcconnell, who is the senate minority leader, representing the republican party. harry reid, representing the democrats, had hoped to have a bill on the table for their caucuses to look at in about 60 minutes from now and the word here is that there has been a major setback. one anonymous source is saying that we are now further back than we were 24 hours ago with these gorks and i'm hearing it is that the republicans have introduced the idea of bringing some changes to sporblee security. that would be the short-term benefit that people are entitled to for a very short time when they have been out of work for six months or more. we knew they were struggling anyway to resolve the key issues, like, for example, how

many wealthy families will pay more under president obama's plan? there are inheritance tax issues and the unemployment benefits being kept up. president obama particularly wanted that to go into this bill so that anybody who needed unemployment checks would get them. according to this latest source, even that is up in the air. it's 2:00 in the afternoon and if they're going to get this done, they'd have had to have had something on the table by 3:00 so that the senate could vote on to -- it today and pass it on to the house monday the how often do we see this when dealing with congressional issues? time is running out rapidly. >> should the wort happen and america effectively goes over the fiscal cliff, what will be the effects on the u.s. and, of course, the rest of the world? >> well, economists tell us -- tell us that if the u.s. goes

over the fiscal cliff, just another word for a been crisis, by the way, just a budget crisis, really, economists tell us that if the fiscal cliff kicks in and all those tax increases happen and the deep spending cuts happen it could send the u.s. into recession and that could drag parts of the world with it. so, clearly, that's not very good. other economists would tell you look, if this all happens, it's going to go such a long way toward sorting out the u.s. deficit and debt problem that actually things would be ok, not as abad adds we think. many of the issues don't kick in on january 1, they kick in later in the year, maybe as late as july or august, so politicians actually have time to sort out some of the key issues. nonetheless, the politicians, in particular president obama and i think the key leaders of the democratic party and the republican party here of the congress, they really don't want to be the ones sitting in the top offices when washington

couldn't stop the ut from going through what could be a very, very potentially serious budget crisis. >> all right. keeping an eye on those important negotiations for us in the senate. thanks so much. 21 policeman have been found dead in northwest pakistan after being kidnapped by the taliban last week. one man managed to escape arks --, and audio is fighting for his life in hospital. >> fighting for his life in a peshawar hospital, one of two survivors of an attack in the tribal region. 21 of his colleagues were captured at this check point and two others like it last week. the par ar militaries are armed only with light weaponry. for days they were kept together, not knowing their fate. then their captors blindfolded

them, lined them up against a wall in a local cricket pitch, and shot them one by one. the men were from a paramilitary force recruited from members of ethnic pashtun tribes in northwestwestern pakistan who support the government. >> this is part of a very well organized campaign by terrorists, whoever they are, to demoralize the security apparatus and to defeat any effort by the government to crack down on them. >> paramilitary force loan -- known as the levies have been trying to bring peace to the country's violence-ridden northwest for years. the taliban has mounted ever more brazen attacks against pakistani security porses -- forces, even attacking the capital's airport. one by one, they were buried in

a traditional ceremony. 21 deaths as the war within pakistan continues. >> elsewhere, a spate attack in the southwest of pakistan has left at least 19 dead. they were on their way to a site when a car packed with explosives drove into their bus. the turkish prime minister has said that the war in syria will be over soon. he made the statement in a visit to refugee camps on the border. >> as fighting escalates in syria once more, turkey's prime minister predicts an imminent collapse of the regime. turkey is worried -- wary --

wearing -- weary too of violence spilling over and a growing tide of refugees if the conflict drags on. diplomatic activity attempts to wreakt -- break the stalemate and find a peaceful way out international envoy brahimi says a deal brokered by russia and the u.s. may be the only chance to prevent a sectarian war in syria. >> the situation in syria is very bad. very, very bad and the differences are increasingth >> but most syrians remain skeptical of brahimi's initiative. they say assad and those loyal to him should be discarded from any future deal. army troops have intensefied air strikes across the country. here in the eastern province, fighter jets bombed rebel

strongholds. the military is stepping up its campaign to stop the rebels from advancing. there was been mass destruction on the eastern out skirts of damascus where the rebels are holding territory despite con tant air strikes. the siege -- besieged towns bear the brunt of the assault to push the rebels out of damascus. these are the victims of the raging violence in homs. activists say dozens of people were killed by the army, which took the area. on syrian tv, trenches dug by the rebelled to protect themselves from shelling the but in the absence of a decisive military victory, the

rebels will have to decide whether to negotiate piecemeal or brace for a prolonged war. >> after two years of fighting in syria, the united nations says close to half a million people have fled the country. many are in camps in neighboring turkey, lebanon, and jordan. a much smaller number have made their way to greece. this report from lesbos just off the coast of turkey. >> the immigrants who wash ashore on the greek islands are now struggling with their first european winter. they are somalis, afghanistan annies, and, increates -- increasingly, syrians. all at a camp run by volunteers who provide food and shelter the this is ahmed, who has just arrived from aleppo with a vague plan to find his brothner athens.

>> our life is destroyed in syria. we cannot stay in syria. the war airplanes float in the sky and bombing the houses, we cannot stay in syria. >> the turkish mainland is not far behind me. it's not far away but the journey is very dangerous. the boats supplied by people smugglers are often old and in bad condition, and at this time be year the seas could be very rough. not everyone makes it across. these were afghanis. more than 20 drowned. here is the only survivor, who was fished half-dead and freezing cold out of the sea by greek coast guards. now trying to call friends and family to tell them he's alive. but there is no answer. he's receiving counseling, but

he seems very confused about what to do next. meanwhile, more and more syrians are arriving in agent tens, like adil, who knows almost nobody in this city and speaks no greek. he says he ran away from the government army. >> every day, like yesterday and tomorrow, all i do is wake, sleep, and speak on the internet with my close friends just in case i hear some news on the fall of assad. >> and there are also syrian families crowded in wace -- basements. this is one of six children traveling with their mother. athens is not what they hoped it would be. >> nothing here can help us. nothing. no charities,nology can help us. cold and hungry. just that. >> but as long as war continues, people will carry on trying to reach greece no matter how ill-prepared it is

to receive them. al-jazeera, greece. >> still to come this half hour, anger in iraq as sunni muslims continue to demonstrate against the shi'ia. plus 30 years on, could justice finally be done for the mushed of a south american music legend? >> hello, again. over north america it's just one system after another one for the moment. the latest is running up into the eastern parts of canada there. certainly gave us a lot of heavy snow. but behind they -- me is another weather system working its way across the rockies at the moment. that is certainly going to give us a lot of wintry weather as we move through monday.

this whole system marches up toward the eastern parts there as we head into tuesday. for most above the south it is going to be rain and that's going to drag down the temperatures. atlanta, no higher than 12 degrees. in the west, generally quite quiet. seattle should get up to around 8 degrees. you can see the breezes here stretching all the way down toward panama in the best -- west. generally it's sell thed and should stay fine. further south, plenty of showers as usual over many parts of south america and monday we're going to see plenty of them in the northern parts of argentina. that will clear away as we head into tuesday and bind -- behind it, it's going -- going to turn

>> hello, again. a reminder of the main stories here on al-jazeera. a debate in uppedway in the u.s. congress on how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. earlier, president obama spoke on how to avoid the budget crisis. and turkey's prime minister has said the war in syria will soon be over. he made the comments as he visited refugee camps on the turkish border. protesters in india who have been calling for harsher

punishments for rapists have been holding a candlelit vigil in the capital the they gathered in new delhi -- delhi to mourn the death of a 23-year-old gang rape victim. the attack on her earlier this month throwed nypd protests. six suspects have been charged with murder after she died sunday. she had been receivering medical attention in spinning. the -- in singapore. she's been cremated. rebels in the central african republic are reported to be only one town away from the capital. the army was forced to retreat when the rebels advanced on saturday. they already have control of four other regional capitals in both the north and center of the country. rebels have rejected offers to negotiate. there's been more violence in iraq where sunni muslims are

continuing to demonstrate against the shi'ia-led go. thousands have taken to the streets to protest the prime minister, who they say is discriminating against them. >> the protesters' message could not have been clearler -- the people want to topple the regime. thousands have taken to the streets to protest against perceived injustice by the government. >> we want courts to investigate the charges against body guards of the finance minister and we want the government to end the anti-terrorism law that only targets us. >> this is a powerful tribal chief in anbar province. his men fought al kida with the help of u.s. forces. he says the government is targeting their forces.

>> this is something that will never end. other forces are -- will come >> the deputy prime minister was fortsed -- forced to leave the protest. hilt with rocks and bottles. tense moments followed before his guards took him away. but the focus of the protest was the prime minister and his regional allies. they say iran is supporting the shi'ia-led government. organizers of this protest say they are not going anywhere until their demands are met but the government in baghdad is also hitting back. on saturday, state television showed pictures of detained body guards for the finance minister. it claims they've confessed to charges of their involvement in assassinations and bombings.

but no one in this crowd seems to trust the government or its judicial system. that's why the fear of renewed sectarian violence is increasing. >> israel is allowing building materials into gaza for the first time since hamas seized control in 2007. the supplies were carried to private construction projects. investigators are examining the wreckage of a russian jeat -- jet that crashed onto eye motorway in moscow saturday. five onboard were killed. all the survivors are seriously injured. it's thought that a defective breaking -- braking system may have caused the plane to skid off the runway. >> a harrowing scene. motorists dodging the debris of

a russian airliner. remarkably, none of them were killed. the plane overshot the main runway at moscow's airport and crashed on the runway. >> the plane touched down on the landing zone but was unable to stop, careened beyond the landing strip and crashed into the main station, destroyed it and moved out of the safe zone. >> plane split into three. the cockpit ended up on the road. drivers helped emergency crews on the scene pulling survivors from the wreckage. >> i feel so sorry for the victims. my sympathies go to the families of the dead. >> russian investigators say they believe the plane's brake system was faulty. the crash happened during the peak holiday travel season and draws attention to russia's poor air safety control system. president putin has already

called for tighter controls. >> it's happened too often. i think everything is going down in our country, including the aircraft industry. >> it could have been a greater lot of life. the passenger plane can carry up to 210 people but this plane was virtually empty, with only crew members on board. in greece scuffles broke out during a demonstration in the capital. demonstrators defied an order to clear an area for traffic. they were protesting over having to work on sunday. the government thinks keeping shops open sunday will help boost the ailing economy. >> germany's economic performance has been strong, but its future is intricately tied to the future of the euro zone. that will create significant dangers for the chancellor, angela merkel. nick spicer reports from berlin.

>> let us gaze and peer as best we can into the crystal ball of angela merkel's year ahead. as the euro crisis swarlede -- about her, she emerged as perhaps the world's most powerful woman and certainly germany's most popular politician. but 2013 could well be a year of living dangerously for her. they rallied the troops in september. >> we've kept our promise. through our leadership, germany has emerged stronger from the euro crisis than when it entered it. >> merkel repeated, mantra-like, her tough stance on bailouts and the need for belt tightening. but the problem is that even coming in fishs in the elections won't be enough. >> she has a very unstable combination, and in the german

political system it's impossible to just dominate everything with one party so she needs a coalition partner and her current one which she would consider to be her favorite coalition partner might disappear from the political scene for one term. >> at this time the lerl doctor eelectric oral arithmetic suggests merkel's new partner after the election willing her biggest opponent shall the social democrats and their leader. that would likely signal a partial shift away from her hard line stance on europe. and more danger may lie in wait for merkel outside of the country. merkel may have steered a steady course in the euro zone, sovereign debt and banking crisis, but the problems are far from over. >> we are still in the

financial crisis and we don't know what state of emergency will pop up in the next year. the global economy will be a serious problem. >> 2013 may also be the year when germany starts to feel what much of the rest of europe has suffered through, the pain of a recession.